Officers in the western city of Cologne said Wednesday that the woman confessed in a handwritten letter that she ignored a 50-mark ticket — about $40 — incurred during an August 1996 visit.

"Dear Cologne police," she wrote in German, explaining that she had not understood the local parking rules and had been annoyed by the fine — but "now I want to pay the parking ticket."
She enclosed a $100 traveler's check payable to the city of Cologne.